Imran Khan most popular leader: PEW research

Favourable ratings for Khan increased by 18% over the last two years: survey. PHOTO: AFP/ FILE

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) chairman Imran Khan has been declared as the most popular leader, based on the findings of a survey conducted by the Global Attitudes project of PEW Research Centre.

According to the survey, seven out of ten Pakistani respondents offered a favourable opinion about Khan, while the favourable ratings for the leader increased by 18 percentage points over the last two years. The survey also revealed that Khan enjoys incomparable popularity among the youth.

On the other hand, President Asif Ali Zardari’s popularity went significantly down to 14% as compared to 64% in 2008, and popularity of Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif dropped to 62% from 79% in 2009.

Drones

A majority of the respondents (97%), aware of the drone attacks, believe that the strikes have a negative impact on the country. “Those who are familiar with the drone campaign also overwhelmingly believe the attacks kill too many innocent people (94%). Nearly three-quarters (74%) say they are not necessary to defend Pakistan from extremist organisations.”

The survey says that PTI’s stance on drone attacks and its stand against the war on terror might be the reason of his popularity among the overwhelming majority of the people.

State of affairs

According to the survey, about nine in ten people (87%) are dissatisfied with the country’s state of the affairs and the direction it has taken. Around 89% describe the national economic situation as “bad”.

Nine in ten consider crime and joblessness as the top national concerns, and a vast majority (86%) considers terrorism to be a major concern for the country. Nearly three-quarters are concerned about corrupt political leaders (78%) and illegal drugs (76%).

Infact in my region Mr Khan popularity is now record low and i think this survey is two or three months. PTI is again supporting Gailani’s son by not having their two candidates in Multan elections and also Mr Khan repeatedly said that he will break Punjab into three pieces have really plunged its support in Punjab’s nationalists living in Rural Regions as they are of the View Imran Khan is introduced by Establishment to Weaken and Destroy the existence of Punjab for good PTI atleast on rural side have totally lost its charm. Also Imran Khan could be famous but the word Leader should be removed as For me the Word Leader is very Sacred and no one in Pakistan can deserve this Holy Word especially Imran Khan who have Personal Animosity with only One Party and some people deemed it a Personal agenda of Mr Khan rather than a Sane Political Stance.

He’s the sane voice and definitely has major reforms in his mind to pursue. I vouch for his success. He’s a need for Pakistanis living in Pakistan and I’d request overseas Pakistanis, who’re not a direct victims of current corrupt leadership, to Shut Up!

@Hedgefunder Imran can be novice, but what about those who favored him in the survey. I don’t think so, I could have been carried away so easily by some one and that too for the first time, I intend to vote for him. Recommend

Everything American and western is wrong and bad. However, when it comes to this survey it is a page from a holy book. All other news and surveys are of course wrong. One major point the people miss here is the negative opinion of US is record high in Pakistan. Does anybody see the parallel here? Anybody who maintains anti American image is going to be loved by Pakistanis. However, when in power and not in opposition, the attitude would change and the people would call US agent. It is a fact that IK is most popular as he is one of the few who has not won any elections and is not tried at all.

We will support Imran Khan tooth and nail. He is my leader because he is sincere with people of Pakistan. His lack of experience is not an excuse because we don’t have good experience from other two parties. Hurry PTI!!!! We stand by you strong and united.

People of pakistan are honest and deserve people with integrity at the top ,not the current morally bankrupt lot. It is an extreme intellectual dishonesty to support a group of people with questionable integrity in the name of secularism or democracy.

Our country desperately needs if not best but atleast sensible n educated leadership to spread awareness and end this jagidar system … … I m very glad if this survey is authentic bcoz its a hope that there will be some change towards good , in near future InshAllahRecommend

@Mirza:
You said it well but rest assured he will also prove same like others or might by slightly better. Countries are not run with single persons. Teams around rulers make them successful. See team members srrounding him.

@Mr. Awans…people from your region can not be that ignorant to elect the same who they have been electing for the last 4 decades….So I do not think YOU can represent people of your region on this forum.

Join a party, run for election and represent yout people. But the problem is that even if you want to do this, no other party except PTI will give u a chance to compete…..

Lets do a simple arithmetic.. PTI’s popularity is 70%.. remaining is 30%… but wait,.. PML(N)’s popularity is 60%.. this means there is some 15% overlap (as PPP is 14% popular and strong textsuppose the PPP supporters are exclusive) on the supporters.. who like PML(N) and PTI both.. This by no mean is a barometer for the forthcoming elections..

Let this be an eye opener for every “blind journalist” everywhere including ET, where the editorial finds IK bashing a favorite past time.

Sad part is that the “blind journalists” are educated and cannot see the corruption that past rulers have done, seems they have a weak memory;
Nor can these “blind journalists” see the good that IK has done.Recommend

After Sheikh Rashid’s detention at US airport and UK’s refusal to give visa to Maulana, Imran Khan will think 10 times before planning to visit USA and will most likely be blacklisted in US and other major capitals around the world. His FB following will drop. His popularity is only because that Pakistanis are fed up of corruption and think IK is clean. Is that really so ? Big question mark on this. IK may not be corrupt for money as he has no family for whom he should save money. He is a loaner without any family, not a leader. But he is very power hungry and shall do anything to come to power. So long, he did not do much to grab power as he was thinking that he shall get it automatically due to his arrogance. When Pakistan won the World Cup, he proclaimed “I won the World Cup”. As he saw power eluding him he is stooping to low levels. IK does not measure a leader by any yardstick. He is just a follower of the dictates of the Army and Mullas. His alliance with Manuwar Hasan is pathetic. I watched the youtube link someone had posted in another comment. In the TV Interview, Munawar Hasan says that according to Koran, a woman should not file a complaint of rape if she cannot produce four male eyewitnesses. If she is not sure that she can produce the four eyewitnesses, she should keep quiet and not complain. If she files a complaint and is unable to produce four male eyewitnesses to testify for her, she will be accused of immoral character and punished. It is unfortunate that Pakistan has limited choice of leaders.

@Mirza: You said:
Everything American and western is wrong and bad. However, when it comes to this survey it is a page from a holy book.

You assume that people having opposite opinion to your’s have to be illiterate, biased and stupid. However they can be educated ,intelligent and balanced.
PEW is scientifically conducted survey with international credibility ,I can’t see how it can be compared to US administration foreign policy which can be debatable.

I am not Pakistani and I definitely believe that Pakistanis have the right to choose the leader that they feel is the best.
Having lived in a democracy all my life3, I would like to point out a few observations. 70% favorable view for Imran and 62% for Nawaz Sharif (total being greater than 100%) tell me that this survey was not about voting intentions. Thus someone who may like Imran more than Zardari may vote for PPP. I am not saying that is what will happen but it could. Also the difference between Nawaz and Imran is not that much. ALso in many cases electoral alliances make a huge impact in a ‘first past the post’ system such as what we have in India and Pakistan. Imran is choosing to walk away from alliances – at least that is what his public statements are.. So these results do not in my mind translate to ‘tsunami’.

In any event, PTI can rejoice about 2 things:
1) Imran unquestionably has the highest popularity at this time
2) Trend wise his popularity is rising year on year and the trend is unfavorable for Nawaz and Zardari.

Anyway good luck to the Pakistani awaam for the next round of elections.

@antanu g: “@Hedgefunder:
every great leader was a novice at the outset. your comment is way off the mark.”

Not true at all. Most big leaders rose through the ranks and had years if not decades of contribution before they reached the top. OF course there are exceptions but to say that this is true about every great leader – simply untrue. Since you claim to be Indian look at the PM that have ben re-elected at least once – Nehru (had years of experience in the governments that were set up under British). Indira – had served in the union cabinet for 9 years before she became a PM, Vajpayee, had served as a foreign minister and leader of opposition for over a decade. Apart from that his party had ruled several states over decades. Mamohan Singh – had served as a Finance Minister for 5 years. Was RBI governor and understood how bureaucracy functions very well.

President Zardari’s popularity is 14% and Mian Sahib’s 62%, then how come Imran is the most popular leader? It does not make any sense. I think this survey is about cricketing abilities. Mian Sahib is 62% of Imran and President is 14%.

Irrespective of IK’s popularity, in next elections Pakistan will have hung parliament. Even if PTI forms the government, it may not last long as there are too many opposing forces joining this bandwagon. It will be something like we had in India in 1977. That Janta party could not last even three years and Mrs Gandhi came back in power again. With no malice towards anyone, I am not putting very high hopes on IK and his capabilities as far as running a government is concerned. Even Amitabh Bachchan is a great crowd puller. Even he won and election. However, he did not last even one term in Indian politics. We had lots f crowd pullers in India politics who failed measurably. This includes Rahul Gandhi during recent UP elections.

Size of the sample in this survey was fairly small about 1200 face to face interviews,although all regions and sections of pakistan were represented with no selection bias.Each of these 1200 people were asked to rate all leaders from most favourable to least favourable.
Reason numbers don’t add up to hundred when you look at it vertically is because one person may have rated more than one as most favoured or most unfavourable

Current conditions in Pakistan are awakening bell to the public and enough to bring them from deep slumber. Imran Khan seems filling the leadership gap quickly but we should be thankful that there is someone as this void was available for the last 30 years.

@usali:
Imran can be novice, but what about those who favored him in the survey. I don’t think so, I could have been carried away so easily by some one and that too for the first time, I intend to vote for him.

Its because of those who have voted in such polls and past elections that Pakistan end up with Leaders who simply abuse the system and seek asylum abroad !!!
The Country ends up with same status and moving backwards !

For others who believe that survey does not represent the real facts about the popularity of Imran khan. Well we all more or less believe with their other results given in the same pew survey (with +/- 4.2 % margen of error given http://www.pewglobal.org/2012/06/27/survey-methods-34/). Why do you guys have doubts about the leader,s rating in that same survey.

Those who think Zardari and company is their darling and want to keep them in power, more power to you, go ahead have him for another 5years, he will do wonders for Pakistan. Imran Khan could be called whatever anyone wants to call him but the fact is that he is the most honest and has no corruption stigma attached to him, on the contrary he has built a cancer hospital and college mostly from his money and donations.Recommend

Feel sorry for the countrymen. IK will do the unfinished job of obliterating Pakistan. After the army, now it is the turn of the judiciary and the media who have created conditions that makes the world see Pakistan as a rogue and a failed state.

This is going to increase further & further in the coming months as we draw nearer to general elections. I see a PTI clean sweep in Punjab & KPK which would be more than enough to form the federal government. The hard work of the last 16 years is going to get paid off big time!

@K B Kale: “If Pew figures are to believed, IK leads the pack with 70% popularity while Nawaz(62%) & Zarafari (14%) are lagging behind. That brings the total to 146? What a statistical coup d’etats!”

The question was not about which of these people would you vote for. In that case the numbers woudl have to add up to 100%. But the question that had to be answered for each person was if you like them, don’t like them or don’t know. The total of all those 3 adds up to 100%. So when it came to Imran, 70% people said they like him, 62% for Nawaz. The question was also asked about Kayani, Iftikhar Chaudhury, Gilani, Hina Rabbani Khar. IT is because of this that I have explained that this does not translate into voting intention in terms of party. Even in 2008 far more people liked Nawaz than Zardari but PPP still got more seats in the parliament. Please read my earlier post. IT explains clearly what this survey means and does not mean for PTI.
Cheers.

@Some Sense:
I assure you it’s not your media making you look like a rogue and failed state. It’s because of your actions
You guys just can’t manage to accept responsibility for any part of your image and lives, can you? Maybe it’s interrelated? Yeah?

Pakistan needs an articulated leader like ZAB and BB who can communicate with Western leaders without thinking in Urdu/Punjabi first and then mentally translating it to English. Imran does not have a problem to speak with world diplomats in English. He is a better communicator in English language. He needs full support of only sane institution of Pakistan…………….and that institution is Pakistan Army. Without Army’s blessings he is better off as an expert cricket commentator. Good luck Imran and Pakistan, stable and prosperous Pakistan is better for my home town, Amritsar.

Imran is famous among those who use FB and Twitter and those elites who come to english newspapers websites..But for 90% of population who does not use internet…god knows…People who tweet does not go and vote

Mr Khan may be popular but he will not be the right choice for Pakistan. He has fixed mind set and has only one point agenda – redicule Mian brothers. Running the country and captaining a cricket team are different ball games. Let us hope the nation finds a leader who can turn things around. Let us pray that the nation does not get Zardari or Gialni or the likes of them. Let us pray that the nation picks the right person. Imran Khan needs to learn the art of politics and think about the nation and not his “Waree”. He needs to sit on opposition benches to become the leader this nation needs. As of now he will run every thing down and the sharks will ensure his failure. Allah be with Pakistan

In the very first POSt -Zia election also Pakistani Army played the same game. It patched up a coalition of many parties called IJI & hand-picked Nawaz as PM candidate to defeat Ms Benazir. Nawaz was expected to obey diktats of the Army. But Nawaz lost.
Now also Armed Forces have picked IK as their dummy & God willing he too will lose.
Only Nawaz, a statesman, can save Pakistan. Recommend

in an interview, imran khan was telling about turkey and was impressing people. he said, 1 USD was 1.5m Lire before current government, now its 1.5. this prompted little googling from me. and came out this was because of realigning their currency, and it was misleading to tell people it all was from political government.

Imran is the only hope for pakistan. If pakistanies don’t vote him in, then they deserve the present state the country is in. People talk about lack of experience,well if you don’t get the chance how can you gain experience. what has previous experience given to the country,corruption and more corruption. I appeal to all pakistani brothers you need to wake up and vote for someone who is honest and sincere to the country, just look around you how rest of countries are ruled. We need to see back of these corrupt politicians who have no sympathy with the poor pakistani public. Give someone a chance to prove otherwise this country will be destroyed by these present incompetent politicians.

This is time please VOTE FOR CHANGE if PTI fails to deliver I would be the first CRITIC as being voter first obligation should be ACCOUNTABILITY of representative without having any biasness or egoistic approach.

Democracy always urges to give chance to NEW ONES instead of being slave of old believes untill you achieve the goal.

Hilarioius ! There is a more credible and genuine survey, it is called elections. And i am pretty sure PTI will not accept any elections that it looses. Because frankly speaking, PTI has no following in Sindh, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and larger parts of KPK. An urban centric Punjab vote can not bring you a majority in the Parliament.

I cant believe some people think that Imran khan is naive. He was dead right about everything in the past. His party has the most educated people, most respectable .I think the people that don’t support him have proven their insanity. The people that support any other party obviously are those people who don’t want the status quo to go because it suits them. We have no respect in this world, people degrade us all over the world, we kill our own,our institutions are barely functioning, there’s no law and order, the status quo have driven people to insanity , not to mention the doctors to insanity that they’ve started protesting. Those that do not support I.K are not worthy to be called humans and are simply not sane.